Highlights of Farmers Protest: Delhi Police orders 30,000 tear gas shells to prevent Punjab farmers from entering the national capital

Farmer leader Sarwan Singh Pandher on Wednesday said the tillers will consider any invitation for talks from the Centre over their demands but it should ensure a positive atmosphere for dialogue. He also appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to enact a law to guarantee the minimum support price (MSP). "It is said that you (Modi) have a big heart. Give us a law to guarantee the MSP," Pandher said.

Amidst the ongoing farmers' protest in Delhi, Union agriculture minister Arjun Munda on Wednesday said that efforts to engage in constructive dialogue with the farmers' union persist. The minister also expressed readiness to hold discussions considering all viewpoints and appealed for a conducive environment for dialogue.

The Congress-led UDF on Wednesday accused the ruling Left in Kerala of being "careless" towards the plight of the farmers in the state and staged a walkout from the Assembly in protest. The opposition walked out after permission for an adjournment motion moved by UDF MLAs to discuss plight of farmers in Kerala was denied by Speaker A N Shamseer.

Security remained tight in the national capital Wednesday in view of the farmers' 'Dilli Chalo' march, with personnel deployed in huge numbers and barricades regulating movement in central Delhi and at border points with Haryana, causing hardships to commuters. The traffic movement at Singhu (Delhi-Sonipat) and Tikri borders (Delhi-Bahadurgarh) is suspended, an official said, adding the security personnel in anti-riot gears are deployed and drones being used to keep an eye on the situation. Multiple layers of barricades, concrete blocks, iron nails and container walls have been placed at Singhu and Tikri borders with Haryana as well as at the Ghazipur border with Uttar Pradesh.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday spoke over the phone with a farmer who was injured during police action at the Shambhu border near Ambala. During his visit to a hospital in Rajpura, Punjab Congress chief Amrinder Singh Raja Warring arranged a conversation between Gandhi and the farmer over a mobile phone. The farmer was admitted to the hospital.Gandhi asked the injured farmer where all he sustained injuries, and the farmer replied that he had sustained wounds on his hands and near his eye.

The second phase of Rahul Gandhi's 'Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra' in Jharkhand, which was supposed to begin on Wednesday, has been reportedly called off. According to PTI, the cancellation occurred because the senior Congress leader had to rush to Delhi to participate in the ongoing farmers' protest in the national capital.

Union Minister Arjun Munda said, "We are ready to hold discussions...We need to take into account all the sides and hold the talks..I request the farmers' union to maintain the environment for discussions..". "I had already said that our efforts to hold positive discussions with the farmers' union will continue.", he added

Traffic was paralysed in the city on Tuesday morning as the Sirhaul border, one of the country’s busiest, was choked by police barricades set up in anticipation of farmers’ ‘Dilli Chalo’ protest. On the Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway, barricades restricted traffic to one lane of the carriageway towards the capital, triggering a tailback that stretched back to Jharsa, some 7km away, during the rush hour.

BSP chief Mayawati said the Centre should initiate talks with protesting farmers instead of taking action against them. Her remarks come as protesting farmers from Punjab make an attempt to march to Delhi to press for various demands. Mayawati said the government should take seriously the demands of the hardworking farmers who have made India self-reliant in food production. The Centre should resolve their issue in a timely manner so that the farmers are not forced to protest again and again in support of their demands, the former Uttar Pradesh chief minister said.

Authorities in Punjab have raised an objection over the use of a drone by Haryana to air-drop tear gas shells on agitating farmers in their territory at the Shambhu border, a senior official said on Wednesday. Punjab's Patiala Deputy Commissioner (DC) Showkat Ahmed Parray has written to the Ambala Deputy Commissioner, asking him not to send their drone inside Punjab's territory at the Shambhu border near Ambala.

Morning visuals showed that security arrangements have been intensified at the Shambhu border in Ambala, Haryana, as farmers who marched towards Delhi on Tuesday clashed with the police. More concrete is being poured between the concrete slabs at the Tikri Border to make the border stronger on day two of the farmers' march towards the national capital.

Long traffic jams at the Delhi-Ghaziabad border were seen on Wednesday due to the farmers' protest and security checks put in place by the authorities. Rapid Action Force personnel, Police personnel and Riot Control Vehicles were deployed at the Singhu Border in Delhi in view of the farmers' protest.

With protesting farmers seeking to march to the national capital, security remained tight on Wednesday with personnel deployed in huge numbers and barricades regulating movement in central Delhi and at border points with Haryana, which can cause hardships to commuters. The traffic movement at Singhu (Delhi-Sonipat) and Tikri borders (Delhi-Bahadurgarh) is suspended, an official said, adding the security personnel in anti-riot gear are deployed and drones being used to keep an eye on the situation.

The Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) condemned the Central Government for resorting to what it termed was the excessive use of state power and mass arrests to prevent the Delhi Chalo March of farmers organisations on Tuesday. In a statement, the SKM said that it was shocking that drones were used to drop tear gas shells on the farmers by the administration. SKM also called on all its member organisations and their units across India to strongly protest against the attack on farmers in Punjab on February 16, in all the villages across India.

The Haryana government on Tuesday had extended the suspension of mobile internet services, bulk SMS and dongle services in seven districts- Ambala, Kurukshetra, Kaithal, Jind, Hisar, Fatehabad and Sirsa till February 15.

Security personnel fired some tear gas shells on farmers Wednesday morning at the Shambhu border near Ambala as the peasants gathered there to resume their 'Dilli Chalo' protest, the agitators claimed. The protesting farmers from Punjab plan to make a fresh attempt to break past the multiple layers of barricades at the border with Haryana in attempt to march to Delhi to press for various demands. The Haryana security personnel lobbed a few tear gas shells at around 8 am on Wednesday when some farmers gathered near the barricades at the Shambhu border, the protesters claimed.

housands of farmers, riding a caravan of tractor-trailers, water tankers, trucks, SUVs, and bulldozers from Punjab, surged towards neighbouring Haryana and clashed fiercely with security forces amidst a tense standoff Tuesday as they attempted to march towards New Delhi.

Singhu border, the gateway to Haryana and Punjab, had the look of a war zone outpost anticipating an attack at any time. Around 25 months after the farmers ended their 377-day protest of 2020-21, taking home some unmet promises, their 'Delhi Chalo' call reverberated on Tuesday.

The Punjab government has sounded an alert in hospitals located near the Haryana border in the wake of many farmers getting injured following clashes with police at Shambhu and Khanauri borders. According to official sources, the state government has also sought from the Haryana government not to use lathi-charge and hurl tear gas shells at farmers. The state government has stepped up the number of ambulances along the Haryana border, besides asking doctors and other staff to remain on duty.

Among other things, the farmers are seeking an MSP guarantee for 23 crops, waiver of their debts and withdrawal of cases registered against them during the 2020-21 farmers' agitation. The farmers have also urged to scrap the Electricity Amendment Bill 2020 and are demanding to reintroduce the Land Acquisition Act of 2013, ensuring consent from farmers and compensation at four times the collector rate. Further, they are demanding to punish those involved in the Lakhimpur Kheri killings. An appeal to provide 200 days of employment per year and a daily wage of Rs 700 under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005 (MGNREGA) linking it with farming, has also been made by the farmers.

Farmers will resume marching towards Delhi on Wednesday after announcing a temporary "ceasefire" prompted by clashes with security personnel. This decision comes in the wake of inconclusive discussions between the central government and agricultural leaders.

Authorities here intensified security arrangements to stop a farmers' march from entering Delhi as the Singhu and Tikri borders were shut while the Red Fort complex was closed temporarily after peasants on their way to the national capital clashed with police at the Shambhu border between Haryana and Punjab.

The Delhi Metro regulated passengers' entry and exit at nine stations on Tuesday by shutting some gates for several hours in view of the farmers' march towards the national capital. The commuters were allowed to enter or exit these stations through other gates. The stations where one or more gates were closed included Rajiv Chowk, Mandi House, Central Secretariat, Patel Chowk, Udyog Bhawan, Janpath, Barakhamba Road, Lok Kalyan Marg and Khan Market, a senior official said.

he right of free passage of public at large is to be balanced with the right of freedom of speech and expression, the Punjab and Haryana High Court stated while hearing two separate petitions pertaining to the farmers' 'Delhi Chalo' march. "It is not disputed that the right of free passage of public at large is to be balanced with the right of freedom of speech and expression and that none of them existing in isolation can be put-forth so that the general public is not put to any inconvenience," stated the court.

Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) Chief Sukhbir Singh Badal rendered support to farmers who have embarked on the 'Delhi Chalo' protest and appealed to the central government to fulfill the demands of the cultivators. The SAD chief also appealed to Aam Adami Party (AAP) chief Arvind Kejriwal and Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann to give MSP on 17 crops including wheat and paddy as promised by them to farmers earlier.